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Special Story by Dave Holden

Quick Takes:

• Co-founder and President of Wheels of Freestyle, Inc.
• Has spoken and performed at over 3,000 schools nationwide
• Learned to ride BMX professionally…after graduating from College
• Played college basketball and soccer
• Started a company with credit card loans while couch surfing in his friends’ apartments 
• Overcame a huge fear of public speaking to become a motivational speaker
  

I really tried to help Jeff; I gave it my best shot.  I can’t begin to tell you how many people supported him, but even so, the day that we all dreaded finally arrived.  Drugs had claimed Jeff’s life.  He was my close college friend and a pro BMX stunt rider. 

Jeff had it all; family, friends, a nice place to live, immense talent, tons of energy, big dreams, and a well thought out plan for success.  Yet it all began to trickle away the day he made one choice to try drugs. 

Jeff and I first met in our college weight room during one of our many grueling workouts.  We soon became good friends as we shared a passion for sports and fitness.  Little did I know then, we would soon venture together in business. 

After graduating, I decided to travel to Sweden to experience a new culture, visit a friend and just get away for a while.  I didn’t really know what I was going to do with my life; I just needed a little time to unwind after the years of hard work in college.  A few months later, I received a call from Jeff who literally begged me to come back to San Diego. 

He was certain that I would be the perfect teammate in his new extreme sports venture.  He wanted to create a motivational BMX stunt show that would inspire young people and teach them about a variety of important life issues.  Excited about his new business plan, I returned to San Diego and cleared a spot on the floor of his studio apartment—my new home.  I remember using my t-shirt for a pillow and a raggedy old blanket (at least I wasn’t homeless).

The business had so much potential.  “We’re going to make so much money.  We’re going to have so much success!” we would say to each other.

Our original plan called for Jeff to perform BMX stunts at elementary, middle, and high schools while adding inspirational messages about success and the importance of staying drug-free.  I was meant to be in the background handling the business side of the operation. 

Everything was perfect.  It was all going to work out nicely … well, so I thought. 

I began to notice Jeff behaving in a strange way.  His life was becoming more and more of a roller coaster with extreme highs and lows.  One day he would have uncontrollable energy and the next he would sleep from morning to night.  In my ignorance, I assumed it was just the way he was … but I was about to find out a completely different story. 

I discovered that Jeff had succumbed to peer pressure from a friend and began experimenting with drugs.  Jeff convinced himself that he was somehow different from other drug users who had become addicts.  He thought he was strong enough to avoid letting the drugs take over his life.  How wrong he was!  His drug use quickly went from a want to a need and his life spun into a whirlwind of unpredictable behavior, irrational thinking, and poor decisions.

I’ll never forget the time when Jeff didn’t show up for a high school show we had scheduled.  Since no one else could perform in the presentation, I was forced to participate with another rider where I had to display all six of the tricks I had recently learned (supposedly, just for fun).  All of the sudden, I was performing these stunts in front of 800 teenagers!  It was a nerve-wracking experience.

After that show, I started training intensely because it became clear that I could no longer rely on Jeff.  I wasn’t even supposed to be a rider, but in a strange twist of fate, I became the speaker and the rider!  I ended up living Jeff’s dreams because I did it all drug-free; that was the one and only difference.

One of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever made was deciding to dissolve our partnership in business.  The day I confronted him with this was very tough.  That day I just knew his dream had died.  And the fact that he was now a drug-user was too hypocritical and risky for me to accept.  Since I wasn’t about to put my future into the hands of a drug-user, I started working with another company before deciding to re-launch our original dream about a year and a half later; only this time, I did it without Jeff.  For several years after starting my new company I encouraged Jeff to get help, get clean, and re-join me in building our dream.  Unfortunately, the drugs were too powerful and they now had an impenetrable grip on him. 

The strange thing was, Jeff knew the drugs were destroying his life and that they would eventually kill him.  He was not blind to the realities of drug-use, but he couldn’t stop—he was heavily addicted!  When he was on drugs he felt fearless and powerful as though all of his insecurities had disappeared.  The problem was, once he sobered up, the same insecurities and fears came right back.  He was trying to solve his problems by taking a shortcut and a quick fix instead of working hard to fix the cause of his problems permanently. 

One day I witnessed Jeff in a fit of rage pounding the roof of his car with his fist.  He was screaming, “I hate drugs, this is killing me!” He was miserable and things were only getting worse. He was constantly in and out jail and rehabilitation homes, but nothing would stop him.  He soon became homeless living on the streets of San Diego and spending every last penny he had to buy more drugs.   Still, I didn’t give up.

I pleaded with him on countless occasions to get it together and start over, but after years of trying, I finally realized that the only hope of helping him was through tough love.  I had no other option but to cut him off as a friend hoping this would make him finally realize he was losing everything and everybody.  But again, the drugs had taken over his life in every way and he couldn’t break his addiction.

One day as I was driving down a street in San Diego I noticed Jeff running down the sidewalk. I pulled over and he ran to the window of my van yelling, “Duuuude, duuuude, can I get in the back of the van?  I need a minute of privacy!”   I knew this meant he was looking for a place to get his “fix,” but there was no way I was going to be a part of it. 

• www.wheelsoffreestyle.com

Much success to you,

     - Kent Healy

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